King’s College exceed skipper’s expectations in his final playing days

It was a case of so near yet so far for King’s College School at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens – but captain Will van Klaveren admitted they still exceeded all expectations.

KCS U18s reached the final against Bedford School after coming through their group phase, but they came up short going down 19-17 on Sunday.

The manner of defeat left a bitter taste in the mouth of skipper van Klaveren but he insisted his team performed better than ever before during the two-day tournament.

He said: “The final was good, we went two tries up, but we let it slip.

“The boys did really well and we didn’t expect to get this far but we are still gutted that we couldn’t get the win.

“We started slowly on the first day, but by the end of it we were playing the best sevens we’ve ever played. I’m just very proud we turned it on in day two.

“Bedford are a class side with some good players, so they deserved it.”

KCS’s U18s were not the only team in action although the U16s failed to follow their lead and didn’t progress out of the group stage of the Colts competition.

But for van Klaveren’s class of 2014, however, the adventure with KCS is now over – and he could not have imagined a better way to bow out.

“Everyone looks forward to Rosslyn Park and it is the one tournament we concentrate on,” he added.
“It is my last tournament so coming second is a great way to finish.”

“It is a very different game and it's good to get some tournaments before this and play tournaments in just before.

“The standard has been so good but it’s always a tough tournament physically and mentally.”

HSBC is proud to sponsor the world’s largest schools rugby tournament. All HSBC’s rugby sponsorships aim to help develop and grow the sport and ensure even more youngsters get involved with rugby. For more information visit www.rpns7.co.uk.